Black box (systems)

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For other meanings of Black Box, see Black box.

Black box is technical jargon for a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. Almost anything might occasionally be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an algorithm, the Internet. Some other common uses are:

In electronics, a sealed piece of replaceable equipment; see line-replaceable unit.
In computer programming and software engineering, black box testing is used to check that the output of a program is as expected given certain inputs. The term "black box" is used because the actual program being executed is not examined.
In computing in general, a black box program is one where the user cannot see its inner workings (perhaps because it is a closed source program)
In the stock market many people trade with "Black box" programs and algorithms designed by programmers. These programs automatically trade user’s accounts when certain technical market conditions suddenly exist (such as a SMA crossover). Some businesses on the internet specialize in coding these algorithms for [TradeStation] users such as [Knowful].
In physics, a black box is a system whose internal structure is unknown, or need not be considered for a particular purpose. Sometimes black box is used as a synonym for black body.
In copyright law, a single-purpose device which decrypts satellite television signals without authorization, which removes Macrovision coding, or which otherwise serves to defeat a broadcaster's or copyright holder's policy is sometimes known as a black box; the purpose of the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was sometimes characterized as removing these black boxes from the market.
In mathematical modelling, a limiting case.
In philosophy and psychology, the school of behaviorism sees the human mind as a black box; see black box theory.

The opposite of a black box, a system where the innards are available for inspection (such as a free software/open source program) is sometimes known as a white box, a glass box, or a clear box.

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